After initially speaking with my supervisor to decide what to create for the project alongside the podcasts, Hannah suggested creating a magazine media kit (as if the publication already existed) and a PR strategy document to demonstrate how Amplify Magazine would launch its podcast.
I have created a media kit before, as a result of taking part in the Magazine Publishing module, that is in fact very similar to the one I created for this project given that the concept for the publication is pretty much the same. I was not worried about doing this at all but when I began drawing up the media kit it took be longer than expected to get into the swing of things. I don't think that I had really devised the core attributes of the brand and therefore I was a bit muddled, not to mention when it came to actually laying it out. In order to try and give myself a sense of what Amplify was really about I researched a multitude of similar publications such as Teen Breathe, Teen Vogue, Private Eye, The New Statesman, Dazed and Confused and LOVE Magazine to see how they had defined their publication in their mission statements and introductions as well as how they displayed their brand aesthetic via their media kit.
This was a very helpful exercise as it helped me to clarify the USP for Amplify and concisely explain what the publication was about. I began to draft my introduction and mission statement, which given that I love writing and consider myself to be quite articulate, I found surprisingly quite difficult and time consuming. After a few drafts and a conversation with my mum I had written my final versions. I am pleased with the outcomes and feel as though they are very informative and give an instant sense of Amplify's purpose.
The next thing that I had to construct was my rate card, which was an essential part of the media kit as it is highlighted in my brief. To devise this I used two main reference points -- Private Eye's rate card and the one I constructed for WIP (Magazine Publishing). As Private Eye is a much more established magazine I knew I couldn't make Amplify's prices as high but given that (for the sake of this project) my magazine is not a brand new I didn't want to make them as low as WIPs. I wrote out some rough pricing and showed my sister-in-law who is a fashion journalist so she could check them over. She told me that I had gone too high but only marginally. This was useful feedback so immediately I went back and reconfigured them and came to the prices seen in my media kit. She felt that these were more realistic and so did I. See Below for my points of reference.
Whilst Amplify Magazine is not a publication based around the arts, when creating my brand identity I wanted it to be quirky, obviously appreciative of the creative industries and also a platform that supported up and coming talents. As a result of this I tried to use imagery, within my media kit and throughout the strategy document, that was taken by young and less well known photographers such as Tyrone Lebon, Luis Alberto-Rodriguez and Hidhir Badaruddin.
As this magazine is based predominantly at teenagers and young adults I also wanted to use memes as podcast promotional content given that these generations are members of this social media culture and often respond well to more humorous advertising. So whilst the magazine itself has a more grungy, 90's feel I also want it to be associated with humour and fun hence why I used those memes. I'm not really sure how well these two aspects gel and perhaps if I had more time I might reconsider how I utilised these forms of imagery but to be honest I am happy with it.
Below are screenshots of media kit inspiration:
